The semiconductor industry has experienced rapid growth due to continuous improvements in the integration density of a variety of electronic components (e.g., transistors, diodes, resistors, capacitors, etc.). For the most part, this improvement in integration density has come from repeated reductions in minimum feature size (e.g., shrinking the semiconductor process node towards the sub-20 nm node), which allows more components to be integrated into a given area. As the demand for miniaturization, higher speed and greater bandwidth, as well as lower power consumption and latency has grown recently, there has grown a need for smaller and more creative packaging techniques of semiconductor dies.
Generally, the semiconductor die may be connected to other devices external to the semiconductor die through a type of packaging utilizing solder bumps. The solder bumps may be formed by initially forming one or more redistribution layers (RDLs)/undercontact metallization on the semiconductor die and then placing solder onto the RDLs/undercontact metallization. After the solder has been placed, a reflow operation may be performed in order to shape the solder into the desired bump shape. The solder bump may then be placed into physical contact with the external device and another reflow operation may be performed in order to bond the solder bump with the external device. In such a fashion, a physical and electrical connection may be made between the semiconductor die and an external device, such as a printed circuit board, another semiconductor die, or the like.